A tent fire that broke out Saturday afternoon at an encampment in Hayes Valley has angered neighbors who have given multiple warnings to the city, especially when it was very near an August 1 fire that burned down a building under construction.
The fire happened around 2 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Page and Gough streets. As the Chronicle reports, firefighters and police quickly responded and extinguished the fire, which also charred an adjacent utility pole.
A photo shows that the fire occurred between two aluminum planters of a type that have become ubiquitous around the city to discourage sidewalk camping.
Page and Gough is about a block away from Octavia and Oak streets, where a major blaze occurred on the morning of August 1, destroying a new building that was under construction. Though the cause of the fire has not been confirmed by firefighters, neighbors say they had given warnings to city officials about an encampment in that area, as well as one at Page and Gough, where propane tanks and fires were regular sights.
Jennifer Laska, president of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, tells the Chronicle that neighbors raised concerns about this encampment at an August 7 meeting with police and a rep from the mayor's office.
"We can’t get anyone to proactively address any of this," Laska tells the paper.
Accidental fires were a major contributing factor to the clearing of Oakland's largest encampment at Wood Street in West Oakland, which began last year and was completed in May.
On Sunday night, San Francisco firefighters also responded to an encampment fire on the 1700 block of Silver Avenue, in Silver Terrace.
Last Night Encampment fire 1700 Block of Silver - No traditional structures damaged pic.twitter.com/i6RF3muaU2
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) October 8, 2023
Photo: Google Street View
